Shoestring-retainer



D. R. WESTLAKE.

sHoEsTmNG RETAINER.

APPLICATI'ON FILED JUNE24, 1919. I 1,335,471 Patented Mar. 30, 1920.

nr este SHOESTRING-RETAINER.

nasi-471.

To all 'trim/n, il' may concern.'

Be it known that l, DON R. llfns'rLAKE, a citizen of the United States,residing at ."irlington, in the county of Hudson and State of NewJersey, have invented a new and useful Shoestring-Retainer, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in shoe string retainers, theobject of the invention being to provide a device of this characterwhich is simple in construction, economical to manufacture and highlyefficient in use.

Tith the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features ofconstruction and combination of parts which will be more fully describedhereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims. Y

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a perspective View on an enlarged scale, partly broken away,of the device forming the subject-matter of the present invention;

F ig. 2 is a longitudinal section thereof. taken on the line 2 2 of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. @is a fragmentary View of the top of a shoe illustrating the mannerof using the improved device; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are plan views of the blanks from which the device ismade.

The same characters of reference designate the same parts in thedifferent figures of the drawings.

The device shown herein consists of a pair of members, the blanks fromwhich such members are formed being shown respectively in Figs. 5 and 6.Referring first to F 5, this member consists of a body portion 2 havinga pluralityT of prongs 3 projecting radially therefrom, and which prongsare adapted to be bent at right angles to the body portion and to piercethe material of the shoe top and be bent over toward each other at theinside of such material, thereby to securely retain the device on theshoe. An additional pair of prongs 4 are formed on the blank and areconsiderably longer than the prongs 3 and carry a curved portion 5extending rearwardly therefrom. The prongs 4' are first bent up from themember 2 at right angles Specification of Letters Patent. Igttgutd.B131', 30,1920,

Application lellune 24, 1919.

Serial No. 306,281.

thereto in the opposite direction from-the prongs 3, approximately onthe dotted line and then bent downwardly, or in the same direction asthe prongs 3, approximately on ,the dotted line 6, whereby the portions5 form upstanding ears at opposite sides of the member 2. The blankshown in ig. 6 is formed of spring steel and has a pair of approximatelydisk-shaped portions 8 con* nected together by a straight blank 9. Theshank is bowed so that thedisks 8 are brought into substantialparallelism with each other. Y l

The device is assembled by placing th disks 8 one above and one belowthe mem ber 2 and bending the blank to afford a bowed spring, as shownin Figs. 1 and 2, which lies between the ears 5 of themember 2. Theupper disk 8 and the member 2 preferably pressed orv bulged upward andpunched up in any suitable -manner to form gripping surfaces, as shownin Figs. 1 to 3, to prevent slipping of the shoe string between them.The device is attached to the shoe top approximately in the positionshown in F ig. 4, the prongs 3 and 4 being forced through the materialof the top and bent over in the manner hereinbefore described so as tosecurely fasten the device to the shoe. rl`he shoe string, after beinglaced up to the last hook or eyelet, is folded into a bow and passeddownward between the member 2 and the upper disk 8, as shown in Fig. 4L.The spring pressure exerted by the disk 8 will positively retain thestring against withdrawal. F or releasing the string it is onlynecessaryto take hold of the bow or loop thereof and give it a suddenjerk upward.

Vhile I have described in detail the structure herein illustrated, it isto be understood that I do not thereby limit my invention to the precisefeatures of construction shown, as l am aware that many mechanicalchanges and modifications may be made therein without departing from thespirit and scope of the claims hereto appended.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A device of the class described, comprising a pair of members, onehaving a plurality of prongs at right angles thereto and adapted to beforced through the material of a shoe top and turned over thereby tosecure said member on the shoe. and the other a spring member bent uponitself and having ajportion thereof adapted to lie beioV Y turned overthereby to secure said member prisinga pair'of members, one having a.plurality of prongs adapted to be forced through the material of a shoetop and on the shoe, and a pair of iipstanding ears, the other memberbeing a spring member having a pair of disk portions connected togetherby a'straight portion, said straight portion being adapted to be bentupon itself to bring said disk portions iii substantial parallelism, oneoi said disk portions being` adapted to be clamped between the first andforming` therewith a shoe string elampy ing,l means5 the straightportion ofsaid seoond member forming a loop between said iipstaiidingears.

in testimony that Claim the foregoing :is my own7 l have hereto aiiiXedmy signature in the presence oi two Yitnesses.

DON R. YVESTLAKE.

TWitnesses: Y

FRED MILLER, GUsrnv A. NELSON.

